It is desirable for aircraft, and particularly large aircraft, to be able to manoeuvre on the ground within a tight turning circle. To turn an aircraft in a tight turning circle it is known to typically perform a ‘braked pivot turn’. The braked pivot turn is typically effected by turning the aircraft nose wheel, applying differential engine thrust and applying the brakes to all the wheels of one of the landing gear, broadly speaking around which, the aircraft turns.
Such a manoeuvre generates significant torsion loads in the landing gear that is on the inside of the turn due to the scrubbing of the wheel tyres on the ground, and on many aircraft the torsion loads are sufficiently large to cause fatigue damage to the landing gear structure. Aircraft to which significant fatigue damage may occur may be banned from making the above-described pivot turn manoeuvre, and are therefore limited in their on-ground maneuverability.